The Almosts
by FromMyMind
Summary: A few moments between Gale and Katniss, pre-74th Hunger Games. She said she'd never kissed a boy before, but she didnt count the almosts. Rated for my paranoia.


_**She said she had never kissed a boy before. But she didn't count the almosts – or the one that counted the most.**_

**I have a confession – no haters please! I only read the books after seeing the movie trailer – but I read the books before watching the movie. And from the 3-minute-long trailer, the books and then the movie, I am 100% Team Gale! So this is my little musing on 'the almosts'. Enjoy, my Gale-loving friends!**

**Disclaimer: If it were mine, the last 7 pages of _Mockingjay_ would be very different.**

Katniss Everdeen was only twelve when she met Gale Hawthorne, who was only fourteen. Him with two reapings behind him already; approaching having his name in the bowl eighteen times. So why was it, that on the morning of Katniss' first reaping, he was comforting her?

It had taken a long time for them to start trusting each other, but when Gale had reached their meeting rock this morning and seen her huddled in the mud below it, arms over her head, he didn't hesitate to drop into the mud next to her and put his arms over her back. "Catnip, it's gonna be okay."

Katniss never cried – he had never yet seen her eyes damp with tears – but now they were running in rivers down her face. "What if it's me, Gale?"

"It won't be you." He adjusted their position; held her as comfortably and comfortingly as he possibly could. "What – four names? Out of a few thousand? I had six my first year – and look at me! I'm still here! We'll get us some nice game and strawberries for supper, okay?"

Katniss sniffed and wiped her face. "But Gale..."

"But nothing." He rose to his feet and extended a hand to pull Katniss up after him. But once she was on her feet, she stretched up as far as she could to put a hand on his shoulder – she couldn't reach much higher. He stopped and met her still-glassy eyes.

"If I go, will you look after them?"

Gale's heart broke for her twelve-year-old concerns, and it took him several seconds to be able to answer. "Always." He couldn't look away. He hadn't realized before this moment how beautiful Katniss was. Would she be angry if...? He made as if to lean closer – but the crack of a nearby branch alerted their hunters' ears to the presence of game. A second later, a small deer had an arrow right through its eye.

Katniss was thirteen when she made what could have been the worst mistake of her life. She had no one but herself to blame – she should have been used to Gale's sometimes unpredictable habits, she told herself afterwards. But she was heading for her favourite shooting tree (Gale had constructed a rudimentary blind in it) with her bow already notched, and the noise of movement in the tree startled her into pointing the weapon immediately upwards and, at the slight hint of movement, letting the arrow fly.

She was just releasing the string when Gale whistled their gentle alerting whistle, and she yanked the bow as hard to the left as she could, a shocked shout escaping her lips. The next thing she knew, Gale was cursing in a screaming whisper. "Katniss! Damn it all to hell; what was that for?"

"I'm sorry!" She was up to the blind in two seconds, and reached for him. "Gale, I'm so sorry!" There was blood covering his left hand.

"Damn it, Catnip!" He pulled off his shirt and wrapped it around his hand.

"I thought you were something else! You signalled too late!"

"I've been here all night, looking for something good for Posy's birthday. What are you doing?" His eyes incredulously followed her as she inched to the edge of the branch and grabbed a handful of leaves from the neighbouring tree.

"These are good for wounds," she said as she inched back. "They'll stop the bleeding. Oh, Gale, I'm so sorry."  
"Hush." But he let her take his hand and press the leaves across the back of it, where the arrow had grazed rather than penetrated. Slowly and tenderly, she used a strip of cloth hastily torn from her shirt ("Don't do that, Katniss; your mother will have your hide.") to strap the leaves into place. Even once it was done, she didn't let go of his hand.

"I'm so sorry, Gale."  
He looked down into her face. "Catnip … it was an accident."

"I wasn't paying attention … I should have been more alert."

"Catnip … Kat." His calls were getting no response, and with a light touch of his uninjured hand, he turned her chin up so that she was looking into his eyes. "Kat, it's not so bad. Just a scratch."

She looked unconvinced, and the pain and self-loathing Gale saw in her eyes hurt him. He wished he could make her feel better. _Maybe I can._ He couldn't deny that Katniss had done nothing but get more and more attractive in the past year … and she didn't know it. As of yet, she had no idea of the slightly inappropriate thoughts that he couldn't seem to stop whenever she was around...

Gale leaned in, his intent clear, and Katniss' breath seemed to be caught in her mouth. Maybe … he wasn't sure … she even leaned up a little bit. But with barely space for a flat arrowhead between their lips, one of them – Gale had no idea who – lost their footing. The moment ended abruptly, with them grabbing on each others' arms and the tree branches, trying their best not to plummet all the way to the ground.

Katniss was fourteen, and suppressing a crush on her best friend and hunting partner. She didn't know when it had started, but she couldn't remember being without this feeling for a long time. The vibrations in her tummy whenever he spoke; the heightened awareness on every inch of skin when he was nearby. And somehow, she had gotten herself roped into teaching him how to swim.

"I never learnt, and you said you know how," he pleaded. "You're a good teacher – you taught me to shoot a bow. Please teach me to swim." And for some reason, Katniss had agreed.

So they were at the lake, and she had just realized their problem – swimwear wasn't anywhere to be found in District 12, due to the lack of large bodies of water within the boundaries. Gale was divesting himself of his shirt and removing his belt, shoes, socks and trousers, leaving him in just his black undershorts. When he was just so inappropriately and scantily clad, he cut his eyes at her. "Well? Come on, Catnip."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to have to direct you from out here. I have nothing to swim in."  
With a flirty wink, he spoke in his 'teasing tone': "You could always swim in nothing."  
"Gale!" She picked up a stick and threw it in his direction; it clipped him lightly on the side of the head before flipping into the water.

"I could too, if it would make you more comfortable," he said as he reached for the waistband of his shorts.

"Ew! Gale! No, stop!" Katniss covered her eyes with one hand. "Stop, Gale!"  
"Okay, okay." But there was laughter in his voice. "Kat, I promise not to undress anymore. But seriously; I can't get in that water without you next to me."  
"If I get wet, everybody will know something's up when we get back."

"Well, take your clothes off – just keep your underclothes on, and everything else will stay dry."

"Gale, that's hardly … appropriate." She was blushing, and couldn't meet his eye. In fact, her gaze seemed stuck on his well-toned torso.

"There's no one else out here. And Catnip, it's nothing I haven't seen before."

Now bright red, her face shot up so that her eyes met his. "What?"

He rolled his eyes. "I can't exactly help it when you're changing in the blinds, or your shirt catches as we climb under the fence. Don't worry, I'm not some perverted peeping Tom."  
Katniss rolled her eyes but determined not to let him get the better of her; she slipped slowly out of her hunting clothes and left them in a pile with her boots on top of them so that they wouldn't blow away. "Okay, let's do this." She made her way into the water, Gale just behind her – it felt like he was watching her backside as she walked. She ducked into the partial safety of the water as soon as she could, and proceeded to explain the mechanisms of swimming to Gale. All was going well until, somehow, they brushed into each other and couldn't move away … chest to chest, his hand automatically going to her arm to keep both of them from going over.

"Catnip..." Gale bent his head downwards; slowly and tenderly, his other hand coming up to caress her cheek. Closer … closer … their lips were all but brushing when a crack in the nearest trees had Katniss diving under the water, yanking Gale with her. And even once they had determined that it was just a bird, Katniss refused to swim any longer. "It's too risky; anything might happen. We need to get back."  
For some reason, Gale had a feeling she wasn't talking about the risk of being in the woods.

It was an annoying moment; the day of Gale's seventeenth birthday – they had been out hunting for a good piece of meat for their supper with the two families, and just as they had caught enough meat for all the hungry mouths, and to trade for the side dishes, the fence came on. Gale just rolled his eyes and headed for the tree they usually outwaited these spells in. "Come on, Catnip."  
"Gale, it's your birthday!" But she followed him. "We need to get back!"  
"Well, there's nothing we can do till the power goes out again, so just get up the tree." Gale sighed when she ignored the hand he extended to help her up – she didn't need it; he always offered it; she always looked at it like it was something disgusting she had cleaned out of a kill. But they settled in on a thick branch, as they always did – only this time, they were without their jackets, it being the middle of July … only the wind was picking up.

"Dammit," was all Gale said.

"Your fault. It's 'gale day'," Katniss quipped. Gale poked her.

"That's terrible."

"So's you being stuck out here on your birthday."  
He shrugged. "Nowhere I'd rather be than the woods … and no one I'd rather be with."  
Katniss flushed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. How long do you think it will be?"  
He shrugged. "Maybe an hour, maybe two. They'll send Prim and Rory to check the fence when they start getting worried." He paused. "You think those two will end up together?"  
Katniss gave Gale a confused look. "They're all of eleven. I don't even want to think about it. Besides, it's selfish of people in this district to get married and have kids … more mouths to feed when we're struggling enough to feed the ones here already."

Gale sighed. "You don't know how grateful I am that I only have two reapings left. It would be too selfish of me to die now."

Two reapings … with thirty-six and forty-two chances respectively of being drawn. Katniss knew that the odds were not in his favour … or hers, for that matter. Four more reapings, with her number of entries increasing to a maximum of twenty-eight. "We'd make a plan."  
Gale's eyes bore into hers. "Can we make a pact?"  
She couldn't look away from the intensity in his eyes, but tried anyway to make a joke. "As long as it doesn't involve cutting our hands and mingling our blood."

Gale didn't even roll his eyes at the comment. "If anything happens to either of us – reaping, or mine accidents," (her face spasmed) "or anything else, the other will do all they can to keep both families in game."

Katniss dipped her head once. "Of course."  
Gale kept his eyes on hers. "You know, there are other ways of sealing a promise than with blood." And he used one finger to lift her chin, angling her face in a way that was most conducive to a kiss. She wasn't going to pull away; he could see it. She was going to give him the best birthday present ever. There was a whisper of lips on lips...

"Katniss!" A quiet call from the direction of the fence came towards them, and the girl being called reared back and leapt lightly out of the tree. Prim was calling; the power was down again and they were free – _or trapped, depending on how you see it_. But as much as Gale appreciated the gifts he was given, none could equal the one he would have had from Katniss.

His worst nightmare had come true. Katniss, choosing to go into the Hunger Games.

Oh, he knew there was no real choice; she couldn't let Prim go and there was no one else to volunteer. But she was going of her own volition rather than the luck of the draw, and there was nothing he could do.

Pulling Prim off of her had been one of the hardest things he had ever had to do; keeping his voice steady had been near impossible. For a fleeting moment, he wished his name would be drawn from the other ball; when it wasn't, he momentarily considered shouting out as a volunteer. But … he had promised to care for her family. Who would keep both of their families safe, if they were both in the arena? Even if they could last out, say, a month, Gale would still not be able to ensure that he and Katniss would come back. He wouldn't want to live without her, and she, being the noble idiot he loved, would save him at cost of her own life. No; they couldn't both go in. He had to stay, as painful as it was.

He hurried to the Justice Building as fast as he could; was told to wait in a windowless room for his turn. It felt like hours before a Peacekeeper came for him; practically shoving him into the room and growling, 'Three minutes'. As soon as the door closed, Gale opened his arms, and Katniss ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. "I had to, Gale; I had to," she sobbed as his arms clenched around her back; trying futilely to keep her safe for just a little bit longer.

"I know, honey; I know you did." The endearment slipped naturally off his tongue. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. I'll care for everyone here, and you'll win, and then you'll come back and everything will be okay." He pressed his lips to her hair, her temple, her forehead – anywhere he could reach, basically. "All you have to do is get a bow; make a temporary blind – you'll make it, Catnip."

She wasn't saying anything; just nodding into his shoulder. Because what was there to say?

"If I thought it would help at all, I would have volunteered – you know that, right?"  
Katniss pulled her head away, and he could feel where her tears had soaked into his white shirt. "Gale … thank you for staying."  
"I made a promise. Now I need you to make one … that you'll do your best to get back."  
"I promise," she choked out, her eyes full of desperation and not leaving his. No one else would see it, but nobody else knew his Catnip like he did – she was terrified.

"There's a way to seal a promise without blood," he said quickly; mindful of time as he recalled the conversation of a year ago. He didn't have to say anything else. Without either of them knowing who moved first, their lips connected firmly; his hand on the back of her head, locking her to him with the help of his other arm tightly around her waist; her arms looped around his neck. When the Peacekeeper came in, he had to shove them away from each other with the butt of his gun. And just as he pushed Gale clear of the door, the unacknowledged star-crossed lovers of District 12 spoke in unison.

"I love you."

**Ugh, it's late. I don't even know how good this is, but my eyes have been drifting towards shut for the past half-hour – I just had to finish this. For a night's work, I hope it is at least acceptable, especially as it's my first Hunger Games FF. Please let me know. And … I already have scenarios running through my head. Sequel? Or leave it as a oneshot?**

**Yours, FromMyMind**


End file.
